Cape Town - With less than three months to go, the countdown to the Vitality Netball World Cup 2023 (VNWC2023) has taken another significant step forward with the arrival of the trophy on South African soil today (Thursday).
The trophy will be taken on a countrywide tour ahead of the Netball World Cup, which will be held in Cape Town from July 28 until August 6.
Earlier this week, Netball South Africa president Cecilia Molokwane and Netball SA CEO Blanche De La Guerre collected the trophy in London from World Netball president Liz Nicholl CBE at the South African High Commission in Trafalgar Square, London.
Following the momentous occasion in London, Molokwane and De La Guerre are expected to arrive in South Africa at KwaZulu-Natal’s King Shaka International Airport with the famous silverware this afternoon at about 4.35pm.
According to the spokesperson for Netball South Africa, the two executives will be received by KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube and eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, as well as their delegations and KZN netball officials.
South African captain Bongi Msomi, who will be the captain for the World Cup, is also expected to be part of the delegation that will receive Molokwane and De La Guerre in KZN today.
The trophy’s schedule tour will kick off in KZN before making its way to Gauteng, passing through Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and the North West before heading to the Free State, the Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape until it reaches its final destination and provincial host for the World Cup, the Western Cape.
“The arrival of the Netball World Cup trophy in KwaZulu-Natal signals the start of an epic and far-reaching tour around South Africa. It is the perfect co-occurrence that it will arrive on May 25, celebrated all across the continent as Africa Day,” said Netball South Africa.